Our arrival in the city of Trabzon officially put us on the home stretch of our journey around Turkey. We passed through the northern part of the Kackar Mountains and began heading west along the coastal road paralleling the Black Sea coast.

This is tea country in Turkey and no doubt they need to produce plenty of it to keep up with national consumption. Miles and miles of tea plantations climbed the hills to the left of us while the small waves of the Black Sea met with the shore to our right. We also saw some of the first rain clouds we have seen in weeks, but their bark was much worse than their bite - only a little sprinkle here and there. We stayed dry.

Trabzon is the largest port city along the eastern coast with over 300,000 people

. There is a sizable population of folks who once called the former Soviet Union home and Russian tourism is still common here.

It was in Trabzon that we committed one of the deadly sins of traveling in a foreign land. We ate at McDonald's. Twice. After almost 6 weeks of Turkish food which we have found to have very little variety, it took me about 30 seconds to make my peace with the decision and head to the Golden Arches. We checked into the hotel, I threw my pack on the floor, washed my face, and went to meet Ronald. So shameful, but so be it. That Quarter Pounder tasted like a fine steak.

We also can't forget the fine entertainment we received each night from the loud karaoke bar that sat just below our hotel room. Nothing like drunken karaoke at 1am when you aren't the one participating. We wish we could share it with you. We really do.